Father files assault charges against Mashpee teacher

The father of a Mashpee High School freshman involved in a fracas with a substitute teacher earlier this month said it was the teacher who was out of control, not his son.

CYNTHIA McCORMICK

MASHPEE — The father of a Mashpee High School freshman involved in a fracas with a substitute teacher earlier this month said it was the teacher who was out of control, not his son.

Tom Greene said he filed an assault and battery complaint Tuesday in Falmouth District Court against substitute teacher Paul L. Arnold for allegedly grabbing his 16-year-old son and pushing him over a desk during math class on March 3.

The alleged assault came after Arnold unleashed a volley of insults, calling his son a "jerk" and "freshman baby," Greene said.

His filing of a private complaint comes several days after Mashpee police declined to charge Arnold with a crime in connection with the incident.

In a March 19 letter to Mashpee Schools Superintendent Brian Hyde, Mashpee Police Chief Rodney Collins defended Arnold and described the student — whom he did not name — as foul-mouthed and belligerent.

Greene said he was shocked to read Collins' account of the incident in Friday's Times.

"I just can't believe the way the chief made it sound," Greene said. He said Arnold had no reason to harangue his son and grab him by the collar of his shirt.

"School is where you expect to be safe," Greene said. "I'm a single dad raising two kids by myself, and I never put my hand on a kid."

But Collins said in the letter to Hyde that Arnold "reacted to control a disorderly, disrespectful and unruly student." Collins said the substitute teacher only grabbed the student as a protective measure after the young man hurled F-bombs at him and brushed against him, inadvertently or not.

"There's no question there's a difference of opinion in what occurred," Collins said Tuesday. The question, he said, is "how was the contact initiated."

In the letter to Hyde, dated March 19, Collins said the student showed "flagrant disrespect" and "elderly harassment" for acting out and calling the substitute teacher a "f——— grandfather," among other names.

But according to student eyewitness accounts included in the police report, Arnold lobbed insults of his own and "took this to extremes" by reacting physically.

The freshmen math class students and Arnold agree on one thing, that the incident started after the teacher asked one student to leave class and then confronted a female student who was giggling and laughing.

Student eyewitnesses said the 16-year-old male student defended the girl, saying she had the highest grade point average in class.

Arnold said he didn't care for his opinion, and the student said he didn't care about the teacher's opinion, either.

That's when things escalated, according to students interviewed by police.

"The substitute teacher got in (the student's) face and called him a 'freshman, baby and jerk,'" one student reported. "(The student) started swearing back at the teacher. The teacher told (him) he was not a smart kid and called him some other names, then told him to leave."

Mashpee police interviewed 12 different students about what happened in class. According to student reports, the male student tried to squeeze by Arnold, but the substitute "kept following (him) wherever he went" and "was blocking (his) way."

They say that's when Arnold grabbed the student by the collar and pushed him back onto a desk that fell over.

The student pushed the teacher's arm off his shirt and said, "F—- you, you old grandpa ass. I hope you get fired," while the teacher laughed, a student reported.

Arnold told Mashpee Police Detective Robert Waterfield and Mashpee Police School Resource Officer William J. Cuozzo a different story.

He told police the male student "got up and threw his desk" and "pushed me pretty good."

According to the police report, Waterfield told Arnold he thought there was enough probable cause to charge him with one count of assault and battery, based at least in part on "very consistent, multiple consistent statements," from students.

But Collins said Tuesday that Waterfield was not aware at that time of a provision in Massachusetts law that allows teachers to use "reasonable force" to protect themselves and their charges from assault by a student.

In his interview with police, Arnold said he is a veteran educator who has worked with special needs students. He said Hyde invited him to come to the school.

Hyde would not answer any questions about the incident but did make a statement.

"This incident has been fully investigated by the Mashpee Police Department," Hyde said Tuesday. "Any further inquiries regarding this matter should be directed to them."

Greene said a clerk magistrate's hearing is scheduled in Falmouth District Court at 10 a.m. April 17.

He said he called Collins and had a long conversation with him Tuesday.

"I had a very cordial, very respectful conversation with the parent (Tuesday)," Collins said. "I think we respected each other's opinions. But we have a difference of opinion."

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